Needle motion for axmltststeb



E. R. HOLMES Nov. 5, 1929.

NEEDLE MOTION FOR AXMINSTER LOOMS Filed Nov. 16, 1927 five/2 250/" L/gge R [Yo/mas Patented Nov. 5, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELBRIDG-E R. HOLMES, OF WORCESTER, IVIASSACHUSET'IS, ASSIGNOR TO CROTvIPTON & KNOWLES LOOM WORKS, GE WORCESTER, MASSACl-IDSli-TTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS NEEDLE MOTION FOR AXMINSTER LOOlVIS Application filed November 16, 1927.

This invention relates to needle motions for AXiiiinster looms and it is the general object of the invention to provide a motion which will give more accurate movements to the needle to the end that the latter may be operated at a relative high rate of speed.

iixminster looms are usually provided with a weft laying needle moved into and out of the warp shed by means of a cable or rope which is wrapped around a drum. A segment and gear mechanism oscillate the drum first in one direction and then in the other to give the reciprocating movements to the needle. At the side of the loom opposite the needle motion there is customarily provided a small selvage shuttle which passes through the loop of lilling at the free end of the needle. Atteii'ipts to increase the speed of wide Aniiiiiister looms have been attended with a failure on the part of the needle to register with the selvage shuttle and this is due principally to the fact that the ordinary drive for the needle permits the latter to rebound or go beyond its normal stopping position. It is an important object of my present invention to provide a metallic drive for the needle in the form of thin steel strips which are connected to both ends of the needle and are actuated by a drum.

it is a further object of my invention to provide means for giving a traverse movement to the drum so that the steel bands will be wrapped evenly around the periphery of the drum to insure precision of movement of the needle.

It is a still further object of my invention to attach the withdrawing section of the flexible actuator for the needle to the free end of the latter so that it will lie under the needle and pass into the shed to check the inserting movement of the needle.

it is a more detailed object of my invention to arrange the needle and drum so that the former moves in a path which is substantially tangential to the periphery of the drum.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth in the claims.

Serial No. 233,712.

in the accompanying drawings wherein one form of my invention is shown,

liig. l is a front elevation of a portion of the needle motion 01' an iiiiniinster loom having my invention applied thereto,

rig. 2 is a fragliieiitary top plan view talteii in the direction of arrow 2, big. 1,

Big. is an enlarged vertical section on line of big. l,

i ig. is a detailed vertical section through a portion of the drum showing the manner of attaching the lleiiihle actuator thereto Fig. is an enlarged vertical section on line oo of big. l and is a detail top plan showing a m0dilied 101m of attachment between the inserting llXlDl i actuator and the needle.

itei'errmg particularly to Fig. i it will be seen that J. have provided an end frame 10 which may be secured to one of the loomsides 11 and has i'otatably moui'ited herein driving sliait 12. An ariii with said shaft has connection with a liiii; ji l pivoted at 15 to a rocniiig rack or gear segment lo pivoted as at 17 to the frame ll 'ihe shaft 12 rotates to rocl: the segment back and forth around its pivot.

ii. needle rail 18 supported by the frame 11 is formed to guide a siiding needle support which may he formed as shown in Fig. 5. {Said support has a dovetail extension 20 which slides in a slot 2i in the needle rail 18 and said support is made in two parts 22 and respectitely, which by means of bolts may be clamped to the outer end of the needle 25. The inner end of the needle is guided by a support secured to the loomside ll so placed as to direct the advancing end the needle into the shed of the loom. 'ihe parts thus far described may be of common construction and form no part of my present invention.

In carrying my invention into effect 1 provide a lined bearing secured to the frame 10 in any approved manner and mount for sliding movement therein a rock shaft 81. One end of said shaft is provided with screw threads 32 which are received by a complenientarily threaded bearing member 33 secured by means of bolts 3st to the bearing 30.

A relatively small pinion 35 is secured to the rocking and sliding shaft 31 and is designed to be in mesh with the gear segment 16.

As shown more particularly in 3 the right hand end of the shaft has secured thereto a drum 36 having a hub 37 and spot which support the rim or periphery of drum. As the segment is given reciprocating movements the pinion 35 rocks first in one direction and then in the other to cause sliding or endwise movement of the shaft 31, thus carrying the drum 36 first in one direction and then in the other, the traversing movement being synchronized with the angular movement of the drum so that as the drum reverses its direction of rotation will also change its movement in th longitudinal direction.

The means for communicating the motion of the drum to the needle include a pair of flexible and preferably sheet steel el men 's 10 in :e X- ible members to the drum or actuating and ell. The manner of securing L L mechanism is set forth in Fig. 4t, where it vill be seen that the band 40 after passi g around the drum extends through a slot and has secured to the end thereof an adjusting screw 43 held by a lug A l cast or in any other way made rigid with the periphery of the drum. In like manner the band ll is provided with a screw 45 which is held in position by a lug 46. Nuts 4-7 on the screws and #15 at ford means for zuljusting the bands 1:0 and 41 relatively to the drum.

As shown in Fig. 1 the hand 40 extciuls under the needle and is secured near the advancing end thereof as at 48, while the second band 41 extends to the right of the drur. as shown in Fig. 1 and is secured to t e needle by means of a boss or lug 4.5) welued or otherwise secured to the right end oi? the needle as viewed in Fig. 1. The methoi forth herein for securing the right end o r needle to the band ll is but one of i constructions which may be employed and 1. do not wish to he held to the particul rangement set forth herein. For inst c I as shown in Fig. 6 said band 11 may he secured directly to the support 19 it d In operation the rotation of shaft cause oscillating angular moven drum 36 and will also cause the h reciprocating movements in the di the axis of shaft 31. The lead oi: .1 threads 32 is preferably such as will lo a slight space between successive co ls oi? t bands 40 and 41 on the periphery ct this result being accomplished by h .i width of said bands slightly less than lead of the screw. With the pars in the sition shown in Fig. 1 the segment 16 move to the right to cause a coun er-clockwise rotation of the drum 36, the hand ll being wound on tl e drum to more the needle to the left or into the shed and the hand l0 being unwound from said drum and held substantially taut during the entire inward movement of the needle so that as the latter arrives at the end of its weft inserting movement the band 10 will check the needle and prevent the same from moving beyond its proper position. Continued operation of the loom will move the segment toward the left, which will be accompanied by a tensioning oi the band 40 to move the needle out of the shed and at the same time the band 41 will be unwound from the drum. At the end of the needle withdrawing movement the band 41 will act to prevent undue movement to the right. Should it be desired to vary the position of the needle relatively to its guides and the axis of the drum the screws 43 and i5 may be manipulated to place the needle in the desired position.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a simple driving mechanism for an Amninster loom needle wherein a band attached to the leading end of the needle to move into the shed of the loom with the needle. As shown herein the drum is located below the needle so that the band 40 lies under said needle but I do not wish to be limited to this construction. it Will further be seen that the drum has a traversing motion so that the bands 10 and 41 are wound on the periphery of said drum without overlapping and also that the band 40 which with- (flraws the needle serves as a check to prevent excess movement during the inserting stroke which is ci'lected by the band 41. Further more, the needle is substantially tangential to the drum to give greatest effect to the inserting and witl'idrawing movements of the flexible bands.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In a needle motion for an Axminster loom having a rigid weft laying needle moving in a substantially fixed path to be inserted into and withdrawn from the shed of the loom, flexible actuators operatively connected one to each end of the needle, a drum to which the flexible actuators are attached, and means to simultaneously oscillate said drum about its center and move the same longitudinally of its axis.

2. In a needle motion for an Axminster loom having a rigid weft laying needle moving in a substantially fixed path to be inserted into and withdrawn from the shed of the loom flexible actuating means connected to the ends of the needle, a drum :to which the lie le actuating means is secured, and means to give said drum simultaneous angular movements and longitudinal movements in the direction of the axis thereof.

3. In a needle motion for an Axminster loom having a rigid weft laying needle moving in a substantially fixed path to be inserted into .and withdrawn from the shed of the loom, flexible actuating means operatively connected to the ends of the needle, a rotatable drum to which the flexible actuating means is attached, means to give said drum rotary motions in opposite directions, and means to reciprocate said drum along its axis of rotation.

4. In a needle motion for an Axminster loom having a rigid weft laying needle moving in a substantially fixed path to be inserted into and withdrawn from the shed of the loom, a pair of flexible actuating elements one operatively connected to each end of the needle, a rotatable drum to which both elements are attached, means to rotate said drum to cause reciprocating movements of the needle, and additional means to give said drum a traversing movement along the axis thereof.

5. In a needle motion for an Axminster loom having a rigid Weft laying needle mov ing in a substantially fixed path to be inserted into and withdrawn from the shed of the loom, a pair of flexible fiat metallic actuators one operatively connected to each end of the needle, a rotatable longitudinally movable drum to which said actuators are attached, means to oscillate said drum, and means to give said drum a traversing movement along its axis of oscillation, the needle being substantially tangential with the drum.

6. In a needle motion for an Axminster loom having a weft laying needle to be inserted into and withdrawn from the shed of the loom, a pair of flexible actuators operatively connected one to each end of the needle, an oscillating drum around which a portion of each flexible actuator is Wound, and means defining adjustable connections to attach the other end of each actuator to the drum, oscillation of the latter moving the needle by means of the flexible actuators and the adjustable connections affording means for varying the position of the needle relatively to the drum.

7. In a needle motion for an Axminster loom having a rigid weft laying needle moving in a substantially fixed pat-h to be inserted into and withdrawn from the shed of the loom, flexible actuating means operatively connected to each end of the needle, an oscillatable traversing drum to which the means is attached, a shaft on which said drum is secured, a support for said shaft, means to cause oscillation of said shaft, and means including screw threads formed on the shaft to cause traversing movement of the drum and shaft simultaneously with the oscillating movements thereof.

8. In a needle motion for an Axminster loom having a weft laying needle movable substantially in a fixed path to be inserted into and withdrawn from the shed of the loom, a drum rotatable about a fixed axis, means to move said drum along the axis as said drum rotates about the axis, flexible driving connections between each end of the needle and the drum, said drum moving transversely with respect to the path of movement of the needle.

9. In a needle motion for an Axminster loom having a weft laying needle movable substantially in a fixed path to be inserted into and Withdrawn from the shed of the loom, a drum rotatable about a fixed axis, means to move said drum along the axis as said drum rotates about the axis, flexible driving connections between each end of the needle and the drum, said drum moving transversely with respect to the path of movement of the needle, and said needle for all transverse movements of the drum being intermediate the ends of the drum.

10. In a needle motion for an Axminstcr loom having a weft laying needle movable substantially in a fixed path to be inserted into and withdrawn from the shed of the loom, a drum rotatable about a fixed axis, means to move said drum along the axis as said drum rotates about the axis, flexible driving connections between each end of the needle and the drum, said drum moving transversely with respect to the path of movement of the needle, and means to vary the connection between the drum and the flexible means while the drum remains at rest.

11. In a needle motion for an Axminster loom having a weft laying needle movable substantially in a fixed path to be inserted into and withdrawn from the shed of the loom, a drum rotatable about the shaft extending transversely of the path of movement of the needle, said drum being also movable along its axis in a direction trans versely of the needle, a pair of flexible actuators one of which is connected at its outer end to one end of the needle and the other of which is connected at its outer end to the other end of the needle, means to connect the inner ends of said flexible bands to the drum, means to vary the relation between the inner ends of the bands and the drum while the drum is at rest, and means to cause movement of the drum along its axis in timed relation with the movement of the needle along it path.

12. In a needle motion for an Axminster loom having a Weft laying needle to be inserted into and withdrawn from the shed of the loom, a pair of flexible actuators operatively connected one to each end of the needle, an oscillating drum around which a portion of each flexible actuator is Wound,

drum,

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature,

ELBRIDGE R. HOLMES, 

